Claiming Excalibur Read online

  Arthur nodded and lowered Excalibur. “I’m sorry we had to fight you. That wasn’t something any of us wanted to happen.”

  Silzik grinned, seeming more relaxed and even-tempered than he’d been earlier. “I was as much a prisoner to the Fae queen as you all are. I didn’t want to fight, either, especially since your claiming Excalibur is the only thing that could break the sun enchantment that kept me trapped here.”

  Dagg jumped from Aliana’s shoulder to hover in front of his friend. The little Dragon’s joy and relief tickled her skin. “How can a Fae, even one who rules this realm, command you to do her bidding?” he asked.

  Silzik sighed. “Let’s take this outside. I haven’t gotten to enjoy the warmth of sun on my wings in centuries.” They followed the Dragon, who had to duck to clear the crumbled archway. “That’s the ticket!” he said once they were all outside. He stretched again, turning his face up to the sun.

  Aliana and Lacy looked at each other and broke out laughing. How could this old, fierce Dragon be so…normal? Even the guys were all smiling. “So how did Titania trap you?” she asked.

  “As you humans would say, I bit off more than I could chew.”

  “What do you mean?” Leo asked, frowning.

  “I’ve lived since the time of the joined kingdoms, a time when all the realms were open to each other. Throughout the centuries, I’ve acquired great knowledge and treasure, but there was always something missing, a relic that had been lost to our clan for eons. I heard rumors that the Fae queen had it. I sought her out, trying to negotiate for it or somehow trick it from her possession, but nothing worked. Finally, we struck a bargain. I had to do a task she set to me, and once it was completed, the relic would be mine.”

  “Guarding Excalibur,” Galahad murmured. Aliana thought of her own bargain with the queen. From the suddenly serious looks on her friends’ faces, she guessed they were thinking of it too.

  “I take it one of you has also made a bargain with her,” Silzik said.

  “I did, in exchange for information about how to find Excalibur.” Aliana felt foolish. Arthur had been right. She shouldn’t have made that snap promise.

  The Dragon made a humming sound again. “Entering into a bargain with powers like Queen Titania is never something to be done lightly.” Galahad’s arm tightened around Aliana’s shoulders. “But,” Silzik continued, “you have very special meaning to the queen. Her task for you may not be so…long lasting.”

  Not making me feel any better about it, buddy, Aliana thought, but she kept it to herself.

  17

  Being in this realm is dizzying and confusing. Leo and I have secretly been pouring over the small, torn pieces of odd parchment we found in Lancelot’s trove in London. We didn’t tell Lancelot we found it, and as hard as it is to keep a secret from our mates, we’ve agreed to not share it with any of them until we puzzle out what it means. Once we do, I suspect a lot of these mysteries we’re faced with will become clearer. But I fear the price of getting those answers may be high—as high as my sweet cousin’s life.

  ~Owen

  “SINCE YOU’RE SO SMART AND ALL,” Lacy said, eyeing the enormous silver creature, “can you tell us why the magic at those ruins brought us here when I touched it and how Aliana and I are both half-Fae?”

  Silzik smiled. “Your second question answers your first: Fae magic is in your blood. Half-breeds are rare, especially ones of Fae origin. But it only takes one drop of Fae blood to ensure a person is born a half-breed. You, girl, most likely had a Fae relative generations ago, and their magic passed to you.”

  “So my parents wouldn’t necessarily know?” Lacy asked in a small voice. Aliana knew her friend wanted to believe that her parents hadn’t lied to her all her life. Not like Aliana’s had.

  “It takes significant exposure to magic to bring out one’s power. I would think they didn’t know about the Fae blood. As for your other question, there are few who can trigger a shifting spell as was used to bring you all to my mountain. Your Fae ancestor must’ve had that particular talent and it passed to you. If you hadn’t been with your friends, they wouldn’t have found me. The only way to enter this part of the Isle is through that shift point.”

  So Lacy’s instinct to be here was right, Aliana thought.

  Silzik turned his liquid eyes to her. “You, Destined One, are even more rare.”

  She held her breath and went stiff against Galahad. Some small part of her already suspected what he was going to say.

  “You have the blood of the queen’s line running through you. I’d say Titania is most likely your grandmother.”

  “Are you sure?” Galahad asked on Aliana’s behalf, as she had gone completely still and mute in his arms.

  Silzik nodded, studying her intently. “There is no mistaking the feel of the queen’s magic. And you, my dear, have it with a little to spare.”

  “Maybe—maybe you’re feeling the—the magic from the ruby.” Aliana’s voice cracked. “It was created by her.”

  The silver Dragon shook his giant, angular head. “The prophecy stone has its own magical feel. You are indeed a descendant of Queen Titania.”

  Aliana looked down, not wanting the others to see how upset she was. How could Titania have planned all of this? No one could be that cunning! Galahad’s fingers twined with hers.

  “What do we do now?” Owen asked somberly.

  “There’s still one mark on the map we haven’t made it to.” Leo pulled out the map. Aliana was grateful he hadn’t asked her to summon her magical one. Right now she wanted nothing to do with her magic. It, like her, was just another piece of Titania’s game board.

  “Camelot,” Owen said. “Or what we think may be Camelot.”

  The Dragon huffed a stream of smoke from his scaly nose. “It is Camelot, be assured of that.”

  “Why and how was Camelot brought here?” Arthur asked.

  “That I do not know,” the Dragon answered.

  “Then I intend to find out,” Arthur said, determination in his voice.

  “Okay, so we have another long trek. Yippee.” Lacy’s snarky tone caused Aliana to smile a little.

  “I may be able to provide you with a faster means of transportation,” Silzik said, chuckling.

  I just hope he doesn’t offer to fly us there!

  “How?” Percy asked.

  Silzik lowered his head to the ground, and Aliana panicked. “If Aliana and…Lacy, is it?” He turned his silver eyes to the blonde. Lacy nodded. “Right, if you two would come over here I can help you create a shift point that will take you directly to the Ruined Kingdom.”

  Aliana stiffened. Using her magic was worse than flying.

  “You can’t push your abilities away now, Aliana,” Dagg said in her mind. “You’re letting your emotions cloud your judgment again.”

  “Way to be supportive there, friend.” Aliana glared at him.

  Galahad nudged her, drawing her attention from the small Dragon. “Can you do it?”

  She sighed and nodded, stepping out of his warm embrace to join Lacy and Silzik.

  “Take each other’s hands and close your eyes,” the Dragon instructed. “Now open your minds and feel the magic inside you.”

  Aliana was able to do as asked, but she felt Lacy struggling, so she reached out over the magical bridge forming between them and helped her relax. Through the connection, she also caught her friend’s desire to help Aliana heal her heart.

  “Good,” the ancient Dragon praised. “Lacy, remember the feel of the magic that brought you here.”

  Aliana felt a glowing power. She marveled at the pure feel of her friend’s strength. She felt like she was being bathed in moonlight.

  “Aliana, help her reel it in and focus it on a single point,” Silzik instructed.

  She imagined the map and the small ruby that marked the Ruined Kingdom. Directing Lacy, they corralled the light into a tiny sphere and laid it over the ruby on the map. Cool waves washed over the girls. The magic
had an effect Aliana hadn’t expected—it pushed away her pain, her doubts, the angry resentfulness that had started to build in her. The magic left her with a calm sense of peace, a clarity that let her look beyond her own confusion. The magic intensified, and Aliana had to pull away or risk being consumed by the raw power.

  She stumbled back into the arms of Galahad, sagging at the sudden loss of magic. But she didn’t feel the drain that usually followed. Smiling at her knight, she looked over to Lacy and saw her best friend being cradled by a very worried Percy. “Lacy?” she asked.

  “I’m so tired,” her friend moaned. “Is this how it always feels for you, Lia?”

  Relief poured through her as she let out a giggle. “Pretty much.” She turned to where Silzik had been, but the Dragon wasn’t there. Instead she saw a partially destroyed wall on her left and a shorter, moss-covered one on her right. Beyond them was a low-sitting bridge with two arcing passageways beneath it. Two parapets rose above all of this. Ragged, wind torn, red flags fluttered atop them in the barely there breeze.

  “Camelot,” Arthur murmured, wonderstruck. Aliana looked up at Galahad who also stared at his old home. Joy and gratefulness blazed in those blue eyes she loved so much. All the guys had mixed expressions of shock, pleasure, nostalgia, and comfort on their faces. They were finally home.

  “The Fae were right.” Aliana shifted her weight fully back onto her own feet. “Camelot was absorbed into the Isle of the Blessed.”

  Arthur turned to her. A smile illuminated his face as he came and stood between her and Lacy. “It appears so. Thank you, both of you, for bringing us here.” The king laid a hand on each of their shoulders in gratitude.

  “Does that mean you guys are going to show us around?” Lacy asked, only partially joking. She seemed to have regained some of her strength.

  Owen nodded. “We should, to see if there’s anything left.”

  They moved as a group into the Ruined Kingdom. At first it was hard to imagine that all these chipped and crumbled walls were once the greatest kingdom in Britain, but when Aliana looked past the aged destruction, she could imagine the castle and the courtyard as whole and majestic. Dozens of people would’ve milled about, rushing through the halls to do their daily business.

  They passed under one of the archways and through another open courtyard that was partially outlined with fallen pieces of wood. “What was this area?” Aliana asked.

  “It was one of the training yards,” Galahad said, grinning.

  “More specifically, dear cousin, it was the training yard we used,” Owen added.

  “How spoiled you all were, getting your own special place.” Lacy giggled and Aliana laughed along with her.

  “We were special, thank you very much, blue eyes.” Percy playfully tugged Lacy against him.

  Aliana smiled and gripped Galahad’s hand tighter. Their sparks and his wintery scent washed over and through her. “Are you happy to know it still exists? Even if it’s in another realm?”

  Galahad nodded. “I just wish it hadn’t fallen to such disarray.”

  Arthur came up next to them, sandwiching Aliana between the two men. “If Camelot still exists, perhaps there’s hope that we’ll one day rebuild and see our home thriving again.”

  “We should try to reach the great hall, sire,” Leo said, his silver Pendragon cuff glinting in the sun as he rubbed his hand through his sandy hair. “Camelot was brought here for a reason, and that hall seems as wise a place as any to start looking for an explanation.”

  “Titania likes collecting people and places of great power,” Aliana said. “Seems to me the throne of Camelot would be the greatest point of power here.”

  Arthur led them through halls. The walls were overgrown with vegetation, and unseen creatures scurried along them. Light shone brightly through the arching windows and broken panes of glass. Aliana tried to peek into the rooms they passed, but she didn’t get a good look into any of them until they came to the end of one particularly long hall. A door lay in a pile of kindling in the doorway. Inside, the room was covered in purple and pink twining leaves. The only areas of the room free from vegetation were six thin arches of stained glass with glowing Celtic designs.

  “What was this room used for?” Aliana asked in whispered awe. “It’s beautiful!”

  “It was part of my mother’s rooms,” Arthur said quietly. “This was where she came to think and pray to her gods.”

  “Her gods?” Lacy asked, frowning. “I thought sub-Roman Britain was all Catholic.”

  Galahad said, “Most of us were, but the queen and many others were of the old religion of this land.”

  “My father indulged her need to honor her faith,” Arthur explained. “If it did no harm to him or his kingdom, he left it alone. I suspect the only reason he had such tolerance was for the sake of my mother. She would’ve given him no peace if he’d denied her.” Wistfulness touched his rough voice. “We should keep going to the throne room.”

  Aching for him, Aliana promised herself she’d find a moment to talk to him in private. He didn’t talk about his parents often, but Aliana knew he cared for them a great deal.

  They came to a tall, wooden set of doors that still hung on their hinges. “Here we are,” Percy said. He, Leo, and Owen pulled the heavy doors open. The hinges creaked and protested after being still for so long.

  Aliana glanced at her white knight, reading apprehension in the small frown on his face. What’s that about? she wondered.

  “Sire, welcome home,” Owen said, grinning as the doors pulled open. The sudden light from the room blinded them for a moment until their eyes adjusted. Before them was a long hall with ceilings that were probably four stories high. Unlike the rest of the castle, this room was nearly untouched by enchanted life. Arching windows with stained glass in hues of red, gold, and black could be seen between every pearl-colored column that lined both sides of the great hall. A large, lifeless fire pit stood in the center of the room. Two towering chairs sat regally at the back of the hall.

  “Unbelievable!” Lacy gasped. Aliana nodded silently, her mouth gaping as she pulled out her camera and snapped dozens of pictures.

  “How is this room still so perfectly preserved?” Leo asked, but the others simply walked deeper into the hall, gazing around and offering no answer.

  “So, what were we hoping to find here?” Lacy finally asked.

  “Anything,” Arthur said, “anything that provides a reason why all this has happened.” He turned to Aliana and added, “Camelot was marked on your necklace and our map for a reason. There must be something here.”

  They all moved to different parts of the room, searching. “What about Excalibur’s scabbard?” Aliana asked. “Our stories say it protected you from injury.”

  Arthur’s eyes snapped to her from across the hall. “Why am I still surprised by the things your historians have recorded about us? No, it didn’t keep me from harm. It was just a scabbard.”

  Aliana’s face fell, and she continued to search the room. She and Lacy ended up alone at one side of the hall. “What’s that, Lia?” her blond sister asked.

  Aliana followed her gaze and saw a faint light glinting through a door. “I don’t know,” she said.

  The girls cautiously went toward the door. It slid open soundlessly, and the light danced, moving further down the hall. Lacy was through the door before Aliana could stop her. She turned to warn the guys, surprised that the light hadn’t already drawn their attention. Turning back to Lacy, she saw that her impetuous friend had made swift progress down the hall. Afraid she’d lose sight of her, Aliana dashed through the doorway.

  She summoned her bow and headed toward the light, quickly catching up with Lacy. She’d meant to lecture her on heading anywhere alone but instead found herself overwhelmed by curiosity. The energy coming from the light felt harmless, and perhaps it was leading them to whatever they were supposed to find. She turned with Lacy down another hall, keeping a lookout for anything hinky, but all s
he saw was more overgrown ivy claiming the walls.

  The light flared again to their right, and the girls rushed to it, turning into a small alcove. “Look at all these books and scrolls!” Lacy ran her hands over a bookcase made of the same stone as the rest of the castle.

  Aliana went to her side. “What papa wouldn’t have given to see these!” She stepped back and took a few pictures. “Do you think there’s something here we’re supposed to find?”

  Lacy shrugged. “Like Arthur said, nothing seems to happen by accident. We were led here for a reason.” The girls split up and rifled through the stone cases of books, scrolls, and trinkets. They opened some of the ancient tomes, but all of them were in a strange language. “We can’t read any of these!” Lacy hissed, replacing a heavy book back on its shelf. “How are we supposed to know if they’re important!” She kicked the bottom shelf of the case in frustration.

  Stones scrape against each other, and Lacy and Aliana’s eyes went wide. The heavy wall of shelves shifted forward, puffing out a heavy cloud of dust. Coughing, they fanned away the flying debris and saw the thin crack of a doorway.

  “Remind me to let you throw temper tantrums more often, Lace,” Aliana said. “They seem to get good results.”

  Lacy glowered at her friend for a second, and then giggled. “Next time someone says don’t go toward the light, remind me to tell them they’re full of it. Now, let’s get this open.” They worked their fingers into the slit and pulled with all their strength. The hidden door was heavy and the chipped stones cut into their flesh, but it took less than a minute to create an opening large enough for them to slip through. The light that had guided them to the room flared again in the musty depths of the secret hall.

  “Do you think we should let the guys know before we go in there?” Aliana whispered.

  “How do we know this thing won’t shut by the time we get back? Look, I trusted my instincts when I decided to come along on this adventure in the first place. I’m going to trust them now—and they’re telling me to go in there.”